QuiltCon 2018 – A Recap

I feel SO lucky to have been able to make a quick trip down to QuiltCon 2018 in Pasadena this past weekend. It was short and sweet and went by way too fast. (I was only there for a day and a half.) I tried to capture a glimpse of the inspiration and beauty on display, so prepare for eye-candy overload, and yet I feel like the pictures I took only scratch the surface.

QuiltCon consists of multiple events at once. A juried quilt show and exhibit, a series of amazing classes and lectures, and a vendor hall with lots of fabric, notions, gifts and other quilty goodness for sale. QuiltCon is hosted by the Modern Quilt Guild so there is definitely modern approach to quilting for all of the quilts on display.

I found SO much inspiration. I don’t feel like I fall officially in the modern quilter category, but I definitely take inspiration from this genre – especially the colors. Seeing these displays made me want to go home and start cutting up all of my fabric into tiny pieces and doing more creative fabric and color play/improv. (I’ve been getting lots of questions about the stunning quilt I’m standing in front of: it was designed by Alane Davis and pieced by the Lake Superior MQG. Pattern is Lake Superior Sunrise and can be found here. Top left: Singularity by Jenn Nevitt. Applique quilt in top right by Minnow Peck. Blue Pineapple quilt by Cauchy Complete. )

This was one of my favorites. Positive Negative by Lorena Uriarte. I’ve always loved red and white quilts – in fact, I think that red is the most represented color in my stash. It will be difficult to see on the screen, but each of those little white crosses is pieced, as well as the little strips of red in the background. It was so fun to look close at the variety of fabrics Lorena used for those little background pieces.

Some more favorites (clockwise from top left) Ribbon quilt by Sarah Bond – each of those stripes are pieced!; Rupaul by Dan Rouse even more mind-blowing because the yellow is reverse appliqued – meaning the blue layer is cut away with raw edges to reveal the yellow layer behind; I am Enough by Jessica Leavitt – I love this sentiment so much; and detail of Rhythm of the Rails by Kristin Shields.

The details on each of these pieces were stunning.

Speaking of details, here are a couple more quilts with mind-blowing details. This one is called Light Comes from Inside by Beatrice Lanter of Switzerland. Each of those pieced blocks is about the size of a quarter. Amazing.

Another amazing quilt made up of thousands of little pieces: Leftovers #7 by Debra of Made of Honor quilts.

More quilts from the Exhibition Hall: Wedding Rings and Crossroads by Kathy York, Goal Visualization 2014 by Laura Hatrich, Pop Stars by Krista Hennebury, String star quilt by Tara Faughnan, and Color Study by Victoria Findlay Wolfe.

Hot Crossed Buns by AnnMarie Cowley, detail of Goal Visualization by Laura Hatrich (those tiny flying geese!), Formation Quilt by AnneMarie Chaney, and Blue Giant by Tara Glastonbury.

From Darkness to Light by Johnny Barfuss, Turbine by Jen Carlton Bailey, Sirkel by Daisy Aschehoug, Wayward Transparency by Yvonne Fuchs, and this amazing cathedral window variation by Darling Di.

As part of the exhibit, there was a special display of Carolyn Friedlander’s quilts. I’ve been a fan of Carolyn’s for years now – she is such an inspiration. And just a genuinely great person. It was really fun to get to see all of her works and their evolution all in one place.

Because my time was so short, I feel like I had to run through the show. As I mentioned- this only scratches the surface – there were SO MANY amazing quilts. In addition to trying not to drool on those works of art, I also got to teach a demo as well as spend a little bit of time in the Riley Blake Designs booth. My spectrum quilt made an appearance and I made the green sewing machine mini quilt. (The giant sewing machine quilt was made by the talented Kelli Fannin -pattern coming.) I also got to meet the talented Minki Kim for the first time! Also, always good to see Christopher, the Tattooed Quilter. Check out those cute new pennants he designed!

The vendor mall is equally fun to stroll through with a variety of manufacturers and vendors – from quilt shops to fabric companies t0 sewing machine and notions companies. (Just a taste: Sarah Fielke, Quilt Emporium, new publication, Curated Quilts, colorful Malka Dubrowsky, and hand printed textiles by Brooklyn Mojo.)

And as much as I love the quilts, I love the people too. Fun to run into some familiar faces and to meet a lot of new ones. Thank you SO much to everyone who came up and said Hi! I’m sad that I missed so many that were also there.

It was fast and furious, but I feel so lucky that I was able to attend! Thanks so much to the Modern Quilt Guild staff and volunteers for their hard work to pull off another great QuiltCon. Keeping my fingers crossed to be able to attend in Nashville in 2019!